With the proliferation of Internet communication and the explosive growth in information, consumers and businesses have become accustomed to having information available to them almost instantaneously, wherever they may be. While a personal computer (“PC”) provides dedicated information processing for its users, it has proved to be an overachieving solution for some vertical and task-specific applications, such as self-service kiosks, point-of-sales terminals (“POS”), or information kiosks) due to the PC's inherent structural requirements.
Information terminals or kiosks are meant to be installed at various locations, such as retail, hospitality venues, or manufacturing sites for the convenience of the consumers or the businesses. Such information kiosks have some common characteristics. Their “footprint” is generally much smaller than a typical PC so that they can be easily positioned, either placed on the countertop, or mounted on the wall. They also should be easy to set up, without having to sort through the tangled wires typically found in a PC and its various peripheral units. Further, a information kiosk is seldom required to handle the same amount of information processing as the PC, even though it is not uncommon for the information kiosk to pack as much processing prowess as a typical PC. Finally, a PC-based information kiosk invariably requires fans for cooling and ventilation purposes, thus generating noise to the environment and prone to mechanical failure.
The conventional information kiosks in use today generally have a touch-sensitive screen for convenient data inputting. They also have a full complement of useful components, including a processor, a VGA display, some random memory, a hard drive, networking, and possibly an audio unit for multimedia presentation capability. The conventional information kiosk is further provided with a swivel stand, such that it can be operated and viewed from many angles. However, a swivel-based information kiosk commonly requires two discrete structures for the assembly, i.e. the “display head” in which the main processing unit is housed, and the swivel stand, thus making shipping and assembly more cumbersome. Additionally, if the display head is to be mounted to the wall, it needs to be disassembled from the base, thus creating a storage problem.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an information kiosk with a unitary integrated housing structure for both countertop and wall-mounted applications.
It is also desirable to have an information kiosk that can provide convenient viewing angles.